Payton, born 2008

During my 30th week of pregnancy, I had a level two ultrasound due to gestation diabetes. The doctor saw a leaky valve and called the Pediatric Cardiologist to take a look. She agreed but couldn't tell if there was anything else wrong due to the baby's position. She scheduled me for a fetal echo at CHOP the following morning. There the doctor confirmed that the baby had pulmonary atresia as well as a leaky tricuspid valve. However, she said it appeared as though the baby's heart had been developing fine until only recently. His pulmonary artery was a normal size, just severely blocked. My husband and I made plans to deliver at the Hospital of University of Penn so the baby could be taken next door to CHOP after he was born.

I was induced on January 14th, 2008. After 27 hours of labor and ultimately a c-section, Payton James was born weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces. He wasn't breathing at first, but they got him going before I even knew he was out. They immediately took him into another room and got him hooked up to everything he needed. I was not able to see him. My husband went over later to check on him and get his first pictures. I had to wait until the next morning. When I first saw Payton he looked perfect. You would never know anything was wrong, except for all the wires he was connected to. At two days old he had a heart catheterization and they were able to balloon open the blockage a little (enough to avoid having surgery).

Payton developed a blood clot in his leg after the cath. Because of the clot, he had to stay in the hospital longer than anticipated. When he was thirteen days old, we were able to take our little boy home. Exactly one month later, he was back at the hospital to have another heart catheterization. They ballooned open the blockage a little more.

He has had two follow up PC visits since then and his sats have been around 95 (he had been in the 80's before the second procedure). Right now it is just wait and see. If it gets worse, he will have another cath and possible surgery. But there is also a possibility that as he grows, his condition could go from moderate to mild on its own. He is developmentally right on track.

Story by Payton's mom, Michelle - Pennsylvania

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